Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSIAII STUBES, OF DEOATUILVASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND H. E. FOSTER, OFMACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,957, dated October16, 1866.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that 1, JosrAH SrUBs, of Decatur, Macon county, Illinois,have invented a new and useful lVashing-llIaehine; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing or verticalsection of a machine embodying my invention.

My invention relates to the class of washing-machines which consist,essentially, of a closed tub or box mounted on rockers, and consists incombining, in the manner hereinafter described, a corrugated rubber witha gravitating beater or pounder, which operates automatically by theoscillations of themachine.

A is a long trunk, box, or tub, which may be rectangular in itstransverse section. The tub A is supported on rockers, of which one, B,is secu in the drawing, and is vibrated to and fro by means ot' ahandle, O. An open` ing, D, in the top of the tub is closed byalid, E,hinged to the tub at e, the lid E being fastened by means of a button,G, or otherwise. An india-rubber gasket, F, between the lid and theedges of the opening serves to hermetically close the tub. The lid E isfurnished with a knob or handle, II.

I is a heavy block of Woo'd, weighing from fifteen to eighteen pounds,and restricted to a longitudinal path in the tub by. means of ribs,slides, or ledges J, which project from the tub on each side thereof andenter corresponding grooves in the beater I. The door of the tub isprovided with a series of transverse corrugations or ribs, K.

The box may be of any preferred size; but I have found one three and aquarter feet long to Work Well.

Operation: The tub being about half-filled with suds andthe clothesbeing inserted at each end of the tub, the lid is closed tightly downand the machine oscillated to and fro by means of the handle C. Theviolent surging and overturning of the suds and clothes and theprojection of the beater I from end to end of the tub act to force thesuds very rapidly and etfectually through the meshes of the clothes, andat the same time rub and squeeze the latter upon the corrugated door K,and thus remove the dirt. The detergent action is greatly heightened bythe confinement of the heat and steam within the tub by thehermetically-closed lid. 'lhe work is mainly effected through the agencyofthe violent pounding and swashing action ofthe vibrating beater actingto drive the water through the clothes and the dirt with it. The beateralso, by driving the clothes up against one end, causes them to fallbodily over, and thus change their position on the reverse oscillationof the the machine.

I have selected to illustrate my invention the form adopted by me, andwhich actual test has proved successful, but do not restrict myself tothe precise construction represented so long as the same results areobtained by means substantially the same. For example, grooves in thesides of the tub to receive tongues or projections from the beater maytake the place of the projecting slides J, or the beater may besupported upon cast wheels or rollers attached to its own sides or tothose of the box. wringer may be attached to the side of the openinglnost distant from the handle C.

I claim herein as new and of my invention- The combination of thecorrugated door K, gravitating beater F, and closed rocking box A B E,all constructed and arranged to operate in the manner and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

JOSIAH STUBBS.

Witnesses:

A. J. GALLAGHER, I. A. BUCKINGHAM.

The lid E being thrown open, a;

